Treating Acid Reflux Disease With Diet and Lifestyle Changes

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Do you often experience the pain of heartburn or other symptoms of acid reflux? You might take comfort in knowing that making diet changes as well as other lifestyle changes may be all you need to do. Here's how.

What Kind of Diet Changes Can Help Acid Reflux?

One thing you can do to reduce your risk for heartburn and acid reflux disease is to eat low-fat, high-protein meals. Also, eat smaller meals more frequently; stop eating before you get too full.

Pay attention to foods that seem to trigger your heartburn and avoid them as much as possible.

Beverages that commonly trigger heartburn or make it worse, include:

Coffee or tea (both regular and decaffeinated)

Other beverages that contain caffeine

Carbonated beverages

Alcohol

Foods that commonly trigger heartburn or make it worse, include:

Citrus fruits, such as oranges and lemons

Tomatoes and products that contain tomatoes, such as tomato sauce and salsa

Chocolate

Mint or peppermint

Fatty or spicy foods, such as chili or curry

Onions and garlic

What Other Lifestyle Changes Can Treat Acid Reflux?

In addition to acid reflux diet changes, see which of the following lifestyle changes you can make.

Quit smoking. Smoking increases your risk for heartburn and acid reflux disease in several ways. It may increase the amount of acid secreted by your stomach and interfere with the function of muscles that help keep acid down.

Reduce reflux while sleeping. These steps will help reduce reflux when you sleep:

Put blocks under the head of your bed to raise it at least 4 to 6 inches. This helps keep your stomach's contents down. However, it doesn't work to simply use lots of extra pillows because this position may increase pressure on your abdomen.